Griot Newsletter: February 16, 2026

Dear Griot Colleagues, Family and Friends,

We hope your week, post Valentine’s Day, is off to a meaningful start. We have enjoyed two weeks of thoughtful discussions with Dr. Edda Fields-Black (Carnegie-Mellon’s first ever Pulitzer-Prize winner), Ghanaian-Italian filmmaker Fred Kudjo Kuwornu (nominated for an Academy award), current students – Lyric Abdul-Rasheed ’26, Jackline Masetu ’27, Omuhle Ndolovu ’27, and Jean Marie Ngabonziza ’26 – and Alumni – Jaynemarie Angbah ’03; Dominic Lyles ’22, L2 American University Washington College of Law; and Barbara Wankollie ‘25 – on The Griot Institute’s 2026 Spring Speaker/Artist Series, Youth from Africa and the Diasporas: Knowers, Innovators, Visionaries, and Everyday People. See the student intern blogs on these events. They provide great insights whether you were able to attend the talks or not, and the interns share some behind the scene peeks.

When Dr. Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week in February 1926 to honor African Americans’ infinitely meaningful contributions, he was acknowledging the past contributions thousands of African American freedoms seekers made to US intellectual, social, and economic life. His effort also anticipated the future detailed work that Dr. Fields-Black would conduct in uncovering the Black Civil War pensioners’ persistence to get justice for themselves, the global African Diaspora discussed by Kuworno and the next generation and the creative intellectual contributions that Bucknell students and alumni will continue to bring to the world.

Our third and fourth weeks in the series bring artists Joshua and Emily Culbreath’s Snack Break Movement Arts on February 18 at 4:30 in the Weis Center atrium, followed by activist Genesis Butler on February 25 at 4:30 in the Hildreth-Mirza Great Room. The series will continue during Women’s History Month in March with casual lunchtime conversations and 4:30 pm formal talks by Esther Ohito on March 4, Deirdre Cooper-Owens on March 18, and Winnifred Brown-Glaude on March 25. 

Please join us for as many events as your schedule allows and share information about the upcoming Griot speaker events with your student and colleague circles. 

The Griot Advisory Board has begun planning its 2026/2027 theme. Please reach out now if you are interested or your department, or a center/institute you are affiliated with is interested in the possibility of partnering on a speaker, artist, or event.

Kind Regards,

Cymone Fourshey, Professor of History and International Relations
Director of The Griot Institute

For insights, reactions and detailed information on past Griot Institute events, please read our intern-authored blogs throughout the academic year. The blogs also include many updates and reports on what is happening around campus in connection to Black lives and cultures.

Newest Blog Posts:

Songs of Freedom: A Conversation with Stephen Stacks on Black Music, Memory, and Liberation
Black Arts Fest Fashion Show
A Global “Freedom Now”: Transnational Genealogies and Receptions of MLK’s Philosophy
Black Arts Fest 2025

Griot intern contributors:  Debra Gonkpah ’26, Lily Hebda ’27 (graduate student and editor), Grace Ifiegbu ’26, Holiness Kerandi ’26, Jesse Leon ’28, Ahmed Omo ’28, Lucas Reid ’29, Da’Mirah Vinson ’26, and Najwa Waysome ’28.